Yesterday started out with me deciding it would be the day that I would replace the Purasan on the boat with an Electroscan type 1 MSD. Sounds simple enough right, nope not at all.

As a bit of background...

When I had my boat repowered in 2011 I had them remove the large holding tank which was blocking access to the outboard side of me starboard engine and replace it with a Raritan Hold N treat system. This is a prepackaged holding tank and type 1 MSD. I told the shipyard where to installit, and they did just that.

So...

I removed the purasan, that went fairly smoothly but then i noticed the macerator pump sitting on top of the holding tank and the first thing I thought was "geez, glad that thing never failed, i bet its a bugger to get out".

Well, it was. That because the space that they installed the hold n treat was about 2" taller than the actual hold n treat, and the stupid macerator pump was of course bolted to the top of it. Yippee.

So I started to try to remove it. Then 8 hours later I got it out after dissembling my settee in the salon to get to an access panel.

That was the end of my day. I ate dinner in the pilothouse and was dead dog tired.

Today was a much better day. I relocated the macerator pump so it is not only easy to get to, but it is the highest point in the waste system, something I'm certain I'll be thanking myself for come maintenance time.

I have the original plumbing on my 4788 built in 1997. Knowing what you know now would you recommend I leave it as-is?

OK Rob hindsight is 20/20.

I am not a fan of the holding tank setup on the 4788. You do not often need to get outboard of the starboard engine but sometimes its unavoidable and the holding tank is in the way.

That and I have over a period of years become a great fan of type 1 MSD's. I really like not dealing with pump outs and as we all know the 3 mile limit includes places like Prince William Sound in Alaska and Puget Sound in Washington making raw sewage discharge illegal.

In hindsight what I wish I would have done is be more involved in the original installation. I should have realized the tight quarters the unit was being installed in. I should have known and I actually did know, but didn't think about the macerator pump placement on the Hold N Treat system.

So, I am very glad I replaced the holding tank, I am just not happy with myself for not thinking this out better. I suppose that comes partly with managing a refit and repower from 1500 miles away. I bought the unit myself, had it shipped to North harbor and told them to stick it in the starboard corner of the engine room. They did just as I asked assuming I had taken into account the maintenance challenges. Personally if someone asked me to do a job like that and I was being paid by the hour I would have called the customer and double checked. Thats the only fault they have in this, is not letting me know of a bad decision made from afar.

As far as swapping from the Purasan to the Electroscan that is a good decision. I almost went with the Electroscan over the Purasan in the original installation. It was a close call.

The challenge with my version of the Purasan is that it was the original unimproved version from many years ago. The new model BTW is much better. The old model used gravity to drain a brine mixture of disinfecting chemical into the main treatment tank. The problem is that the gravity drain requires height something I don't have allot of, so it didn't work very well.

The new Electroscan is computer controlled and utilizes a salt feed tank to provide salt water to the system. This is all computer controlled based on the current flow through the electrode pack. It also has a very nice diagnostic display so you can monitor whats going on.

Since this installation is me doing the work I thought out maintenance tasks and placed every piece so it could be worked on.

Personally if someone asked me to do a job like that and I was being paid by the hour I would have called the customer and double checked. Thats the only fault they have in this, is not letting me know of a bad decision made from afar.

That's the part you hope for better. They get in to do it, see there's a better way, snap a photo and make a call. Then if you say to stick with your original decision, fine.